‘Performance matters’ reads the NRP message. The CCM board apparently in reply states ‘People matter more’. What do these billboards really mean and what is ‘Performance’? When I vote for a candidate I hope that he or she will form a part of a government that will decide upon and execute actions in the best interests of the people, raising and then using our tax money wisely and well, giving us good value throughout the various government departments.
If a government does this it has ‘performed’. It is obvious that the quality of the performance matters to us. An inefficient poor government wastes our money, and sometimes has little vision or perhaps does not care what actions it takes provided its members can personally continue to enjoy the fruits of office.
The NRP slogan is an invitation to study their performance in office and to compare it with that of the CCM during their earlier fourteen years in Administration. ‘People matter more’, is a glib debaters riposte, which sounds good until elementary thought processes reveal that Performance is for people, and therefore that it is pointless to reply to ‘Performance matters for people’ ‘People matter more’.
A few weeks and months ago, the CCM mantra that we heard being repeated ‘On the Mark’ was ‘Let us get back on track and return to decency and good governance’. This was an invitation to assess the record of the CCM Party during its fourteen years in office and to compare it to the performance of the NRP since 2006.
I expected CCM billboards proclaiming ‘Back on track with the Concerned Citizens Movement’. So I thought I should check that track to which I am being asked to return. I can only pick out policies and actions that matter to me and which I know about. It is a somewhat piecemeal list.
A. Michael Perkins who is offering himself for re-election in St. Pauls admitted in respect of the contract for the section of the Island Main Road between Newcastle and Cotton Ground, which was his Ministry’s responsibility, that there had been a cost over-run of, I believe, some ten million dollars. This he said was an honest mistake. Whatever kind of mistake he made we paid for it. Our money it was that he wasted. We were never told why the costs of that section of the road were, per yard, 35% higher than for the remainder running up to Market Shop. You might expect that a higher cost would bring a better road. It did not. The reverse was the case, particularly in the Nelson Springs area. Any driver knows to beware of potholes and an uneven surface especially near Deon Daniel’s development. Around last Culturama time the CCM started blaming the Government for not repairing it. Perkins actually came on the air to say that the road was as it was, because it was built on waterlogged ground. Everyone knows that land adjacent to Nelson Springs is subject to flooding. Everyone knows that you cannot build a house on sand nor a road in a marsh without raising that road well above the flood level. Perkins is an engineer. He will have been taught that a road is only as good as its drainage. Whichever Party is in Government, constant repair and potholes in the road near Nelson Springs is going to be a necessary and expensive feature unless and until a new road is constructed on a higher level with proper drainage. That part of the mistake is pure incompetence. Why would Perkins do better if we gave him another chance?
All will remember the fiasco, during the last months of the CCM’s fourteen years, called Newfound. 600 acres of Government land, Nevis’ prime development land sold on inadequate terms to a near bankrupt developer. Promises to build a 150 room hotel and 700 villa rooms and a golf course were not kept. The land remains covered in bush. Details of the deal emerged only after the Government changed.
Some may remember that just before the 1998 Secession Referendum the Amory Government promised us a grand scheme for Pinneys Estate, a 250 room hotel and some 450 Villas. We were not allowed to see the contract between our Government and the Developer, the Apollo Group. That Group, I found out, was then valued at US$11 million. Some hundreds of millions would have been required to bring the scheme to reality. We heard frequently during Mr. Amory’s tenure that he was talking to investors, but all we were presented with at critical pre-election times were two non starters. Why would he do better if we put him back into Government?
We know that we had insufficient water in the later stages of the Amory Government. Indeed, outside experts reported that there had been no major investment in water for more than five years.
We know also that Mark Brantley, not a member of the Amory Government, but now a candidate, advised that Nevis’ great expectation for future economic prosperity, Geothermal energy, be given to St. Kitts. He must regret that this advice became public, as we now have cause to consider his judgement and find it wanting.
Alexis Jeffers is an easy talker with a pleasant manner, but of limited experience. We have no reason to suspect that he is a political heavy weight.
Keith Scarborough should not be a candidate, and if CCM is to retain any respect must be withdrawn forthwith. He made an unwarranted and scandalous attack on our Judge, who has declared in open Court that he will not rest until Scarborough is brought before the Court. This is a judicial instruction to do that to the Authorities – the Minister of Justice, the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Commissioner of Police. If they do not comply and nothing further happens, then the Court will be held in disrespect. That must not be. What I hope will happen is that Scarborough will appear before the three Appeal Court Judges in Basseterre during week July 4 – 8. That Court should have been provided with a recording and a transcript of Scarborough’s attack. They will know what to do.
Two of yesterday’s men and a candidate who should not be nominated. This is a weak team of doubtful credibility. The internal rivalry between the Old King and the Young Pretender, quiescent for the campaign, cannot long remain so. Expect a political knifing. I sense a certain despondency in their camp. They appear to expect to lose. This, for them, is unfortunate. People like to back a winner. The NRP by contrast, is running a vigorous, confident and clever campaign with many features novel to Nevis.
The message ‘Performance Matters’ by which, of course, is meant their performance of the last five years, has been well drummed in. None of us wants a fraudulent victor, nor do we know if there is substance to any of the charges and counter-charges of electoral irregularities. All we do know is that all claims should be settled or disposed of by the Court.
This is the first Nevis election fought using the newly registered voters list. Whichever Party has most successfully managed to persuade its supporters to re-register will gain. Do not expect previous results in each voting box to be a good indicator of July 11th numbers.
So far as I can see NRP has the edge. Overall they have performed well and deserve to be returned. Their people think they are going to win. Join the winning team, they proclaim. This is difficult for a tired and split opposition to counter.
*************************
DISCLAIMER
This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKNVibes.com. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical error within press releases and commentaries. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of SKNVibes.com, its sponsors or advertisers.
